Cape york, Rooftop or ground tent ?

Hi Joker,

Ground tent OK but do not pitch it within 100m of a watercourse.
200m if you want to feel safer.

Do not know if anyone has ever been taken from a tent, but the above is the general safety recommendation.

Mate.

Just sprinkle pepper all around your tent. When a croc comes up to it, it will start to sneeze. Just move away from the noise. No problems.
If camping near the river just make sure that there is a food source (tent) between you and the river.
Why spend extra on a roof top when you have a tent. Just take the precautions and enjoy.


Cheers

Greg

Joker
We have just come back from the cape and if you camp in the recognised areas then there is no problems at all. But if you bushcamp in croc areas just camp up on an embankement or well back from the water.
when we saw a croc in the sea out from Mutee Heads a local just said to keep the fire going all night.
We never saw any slide marks in the places we camped just use commonsense and once your up there and camped in croc areas a few times you will get tuned in to where you can or cannot camp.

cheers
Mal

As per Mal, no real issue in main areas so we probably need to know about what your intending.

Rooftop tent is usually more secure , but we have setup our Patrol for sleeping in and this is a more secure enviroment and allows you greater flexibility in camping.
It even protects from snoring nearby campers.

IF YOU ARE WORRIED AND IF YOU WANT TO BE SAFE, GO FOR THE ROOF TOP TENT.

We chose this option after being camped in the bay around the corner from this incident on the same weekend, They were quite some way from the water as well

Bathurst Bay, north Queensland, October 2004 - Crocidile Attacks

2nd Story

A group of three Brisbane families were on their annual 4WD camping holiday to far north Queensland where every year for the past five years they had camped at Bathurst Bay, about 250 km. north of Cooktown.
Diane and Andrew Kerr and their three month old baby were sleeping in their tent on the beach when they were woken up by a noise, Diane looked through the netting of the tent and said; there's a croc! As Andrew rose the 4.2 metre crocodile lunged forward, grabbed him by the legs and started dragging him away. His concern was still with the baby that slept in the tent with them and while he was in the crocodile's jaws he kept yelling 'GET THE BABY! GET THE BABY!' His wife grabbed the cot with the baby in one hand and held on to her husband's hand with the other but the 300 kg. crocodile continued to drag him outside the tent. 60 year old grandmother Alicia Sorohan and her husband Bill were camping nearby and when they heard the screams they rushed over to find their friend Andrew being dragged towards the sea. The supergranny then leaped on the crocodile's head, causing him to let go of Andrew but now the crocodile turned on her, grabbing her by the arm. Fortunately Alicia's son Jason had now appeared on the scene who had a gun and he shot the crocodile through the head. They then set off a rescue beacon that alerted Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers in the area who sent a helicopter to evacauate them to an airport from where the Royal Flying Doctors could fly them to Cairns hospital. Andrew had injuries to his legs and body and was believed to be in a serious condition, while Alicia had injuries to her arm and upper body and face. The male crocodile was estimated to be about fifty years old.
Supergranny Alicia was later awarded a bravery medal at a ceremony in Cairns that was also attended by croc crazy Steve Irwin. He also received Alicia as a guest of honour at his Australia Zoo.
See her interview here in this movie

Why not be safe :-)

Cheers Tony

Rooftop tent is just the best! No dirt in the tent and great thermal barrier in the floor, very warm in winter and plenty of windows to open in the summer But you need to be a little agile to jump up on the wheels to unzip the cover and pack back up! It does take a little bit of effort! My wife refused to camp in a ground level tent anymore but it changed a few years ago with a roof tent! There is a down side with not being able to move the vehicle unless you pack up, but for daily touring, there is nothing better.. if tenting is what you do!!! Michael

We tented it, with no problems. You can't fall down a ladder when you're already on the ground ;)

The only worry was being camped on a beachfront, a level crawl from water in which a croc had been spotted cruising during the day. We turned in with a spade and an axe at hand. The biggest worry was that one of us would half-wake to a sound and whack the other.

Michael

PS There was one other worry: some drunken clowns were mucking around nearby with a firearm one night. Woud've been less happy perched up on the roof than down on the ground, but the fabric ain't bulletproof either way (reported the dills to the Coen police a couple of days later).

If sticking to the main tourist routes Joker & camping with the mass's you will have no problem with crocs. In fact you will be surprised how many places it is safe to swim. The majority on the cape use tents & swags so i wouldn't be specially buying a roof top tent for this trip, particually with all the downsides. (Access, fuel consumption, unable to base camp, centre of gravity, storage, pack up wet canvas on matress etc...)
Cheers Craig.................

Thanks for your advice guys. I'm about to buy either a rhino flat pack roof rack (so I can fit it under the roller doors) for a rooftop tent, or just the 2 bar system to put an awning on.

Cheers

Joker